Tuesday, March 31st

A total of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of agricultural land - mainly vineyards - are said to be affected. The two wine regions worst hit are Malepère, west of Carcassonne and Minervois, between Carcassonne and Narbonne. Parts of Corbières were also in the hail zone

Construction on a long-anticipated five-mile pipeline designed to high-quality recycled irrigation water to the Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay, or MST, area east of Napa is scheduled to begin at the end of July

Gov. Tom Corbett initially linked the budget to passage of liquor and pension reform, but when liquor reform began looking increasingly unlikely, he shifted focus to demanding action on pensions, eliciting a promise by the House to take up that issue in the fall

A modern approach to "multi-species" wine ferments backed by frontier science and rigorous research is essential to help winemakers achieve their primary objective of a better than 98 percent conversion of grape sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide at a controlled rate and without the development of off-flavors.

It will likely require a reduction in water diversion regardless of the priority of the user's right ... A decision has just been issued by a California court of appeal holding that the Board possesses the power to regulate and curtail use even by senior rights holders using water for a recognized beneficial use, when wildlife habitat is threatened.

Records of the state's rivers and reservoirs are abundantly available, but not for wells in California that provide one-third or more of the state's water supply and even more in dry years like this one.

Agencies from San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties to NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture formed an invasive-weed task force seeking holistic, more comprehensive solutions to free the Delta from its oppressors ...

Like a 25-year-old zombie, the Delta Wetlands Project has lumbered out of the shadows again to threaten Delta farmland by flooding two islands for water storage, turning two others into habitat and eliminating 14,824 acres of productive farmland in the process.

Union Wine's brands include Kings Ridge, priced between $14-$18, and Alchemist, a reserve label that retails at $28 and is limited to around 1,000 cases. The company's biggest brand is Underwood, which represents around 60 percent of volume.

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets of the State of New York may authorize a farm winery to manufacture or sell wine produced from grapes grown outside of New York if he or she determines, after investigation, that adverse conditions have caused the destruction of at least 40% of a specific grape varietal used for winemaking.

Trade bodies representing nearly 2,000 wineries in some of the best known US wine regions have taken on their own national government by backing tougher rules on who can register .wine internet domain names.

With a completion date of January 2015, work is progressing on a facility set to become an anchor to the burgeoning wine industry in the Finger Lakes region. According to Ontario County Public Works Director Bill Wright, construction of the Finger Lakes Community College Viticulture Center is on schedule.

The warehouse is located in Ap Lei Chau, an industrial district on Hong Kong's south side. The densely populated city, or any densely populated city for that matter, isn't exactly known for its wine production. But Tusar manages to make it work

"I've given it to 10,000 patients. If you drink it moderately - no more than two glasses - it has a beneficial effect.
"It prevents clots from developing inside the arteries, it raises good cholesterol called HDL and it causes dilatation of the arteries.